The Work

Farmers & Merchants Bank

Farmers & Merchants Bank is a locally owned bank serving 10 Arkansas communities. The bank is distinguished by its edgy, nontraditional “Me Banking” brand – an award-winning, customer-centric campaign that highlights the customizable banking experience available at Farmers & Merchants. The campaign is unique in that most bank advertising in Arkansas is traditionally conservative, product-driven and laden with fine print and disclaimers. The “Me Banking” headline-driven print advertising, and whimsical TV and radio spots, originally developed by Mangan Holcomb in 2001, have served the bank through nearly a decade of change, including expansion into six new markets. The latest in a long line of nontraditional campaign elements, Farmers & Merchants recently engaged the agency to create a retail-style catalog that would incorporate all of the bank’s products, services and location information into one easy-to-read guide.

The resulting “Me Banking” catalog, in the form of a stylized shopping catalog, combines information from an array of individual brochures into a single, year-round, all-inclusive marketing piece. To appeal to women – the primary financial decisionmakers in a family – the catalog was designed to mimic those of retailers in terms of size and paper weight. The “Me Banking” catalog was introduced at branches in November 2009. The catalog’s creative elements include a colorful mosaic-tile design, which has been so well-received that the original “Me Banking” print and outdoor ads have been updated to reflect the same bright look.

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